!!!Charro Days!!!

I love Charro Days! This year it will take place Feb. 24-26...and for future reference it is always held the last weekend in February...so if you cannot make it this year...make it next year!

YAY!!! Once a year...all Brownsville residents and visitors unite to celebrate the Mexican heritage of the city. Those who attend the parades will hear the familiar "Coooookes! FIFTY CENTS! Coooookes FIFTY CENTS!"..."CANDY APPLES!"...devour leche and tamarindo raspas after a winter long hiatus...watch the frijolympics and jalapeño eating contest and hear the air filled with long gritos from Sombrero Fest.. AAAAAAaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeoooooooohhhoooyyyyy!!!!!! El grito mas largo y alto gana! Watch your siblings and cousins particpate in the downtown parades and try to get a picture with Mr. Amigo....Mr. Amigo Association I would like to nominate Gael Garcia Bernal for Charro Days 2006! lol. Ride the zipper and Kamakozee at the carnival until you puke. There is just so much fun to be had during Charro Days!

Some of my earliest memories are of my mom dressing my sister and for the event each year. My mom even sewed us our own costumes for a while! I remember my earliest memory of charro days...I was in day care and I remember being at the Jacob Brown Auditorium wearning my charra costume waiting in line with my dance partner...I even remember his name! It was Ivan and I think he was my little boyfriend and I remember being all nervous when he got to see me in my costume for the first time and he said I looked pretty...awwww....so cute! I must have been four or five years old!

So yes, I always look forward to Charro Days because the whole city gets into a fun tizzy...yes fun tizzy...and everything is alive 5-fold! I would suggest you try to catch Sombrero Fest (try to catch the grito contest, it is by far one of the most fun activities), The Elizabeth Street Parades (The Saturday parade is the best because schools from Matamoros participate and their bands dance along to the music), the carnival and ofcourse to the Amigos Artistas Art Exhibition to be held at the Historic Brownsville Museum on Madison and 7th street. Here is some more info:

Amigos Artistas will open their annual exhibit at the Brownsville Historic Museum on Friday February18, 2005. This year the exhibit will feature an art, sculpture and jewelry show by artists Oscar Zamarripa and his daughter Alejandra Zamarripa of Guadalajara, Mexico. The exhibit will run through March 31, 2005.

So get your costume ready y celebra nuestra cultura! Arriba!